Platform Database Administrator (DBA) for Aurora/MySQL

ROLE OVERVIEW

As the Platform Database Administrator (DBA) for Aurora, you will serve as the architectural and operational anchor for our high-scale database environments. In this role, you will bridge the gap between technical data layers and production feature engineering, taking full ownership of database performance tuning, optimization strategies, and system reliability across our core software suites. This is a highly technical, hands-on infrastructure role focused on scaling multi-tenant database systems that process hundreds of millions of operational healthcare records daily.

Core Stack

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Aurora, MySQL/InnoDB internals, Datadog Observability

Platform Scale

Multi-tenant infrastructure managing over 400 active database schemas with high availability

Collaboration

Cross-functional partnership across 4 core business products: Operating Rooms (OR), Inpatient Flow (IPF), Infusion Centers (INF), and Imaging

 

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Query Optimization & Indexing Strategy: Systematically triage slow database queries across hundreds of databases. Design robust composite indexes, rewrite inefficient subqueries, and actively eliminate full-table-scan patterns to address our primary performance gaps.
• Multi-Tenant Architecture at Scale: Sustain consistent system performance and reliability across 400+ database schemas, managing comprehensive schema migrations and tracking client-specific data growth metrics.
• Aurora Infrastructure Management: Supervise AWS Aurora-specific environments, orchestrating cluster endpoint routing configurations, managing failover behaviors, executing parameter tuning, and troubleshooting data warehouse / read replica lags.
• MySQL/InnoDB Internals Tuning: Apply deep knowledge of InnoDB core internals to manage lock behaviors, resolve complex lock contentions, adjust buffer pool parameters, and systematically reduce purge lags across write-heavy database clusters.
• ETL & Data Pipeline Tuning: Diagnose and optimize heavy database pipelines utilizing INSERT...SELECT queries and computed-table patterns. Deploy advanced temporary table strategies, batch write configurations, and partition pruning techniques.
• Observability and Diagnostics Mastery: Leverage performance_schema and sys schema mechanisms to ingest digest-level performance profiles, developing automated alerts, telemetry rules, and proactive intervention workflows.
• Capacity and Cost Optimization: Analyze Aurora instance utilization models against pricing factors (instance-based + I/O consumption) to right-size compute resources and minimize I/O waste stemming from unoptimized queries.
• Engineering Culture & Mentorship: Actively teach and guide software engineers on robust query design principles, providing architectural validation and reviews for staging tables and computed views.
• GenAI-Assisted Tooling & Analysis: Evaluate and deploy GenAI-powered developer and administrative tooling (such as natural language database insights, automated code generation, and assistive diagnostics) to accelerate query profiling and simplify fleet manageability across multi-tenant clusters.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent years of related practical enterprise experience.
• Extensive experience administering AWS relational database environments, with specific knowledge of AWS Aurora architectures (read replica scaling, cluster topologies, and parameters).
• A proactive automation mindset with experience scripting solutions for schema drift detection, slow-query automated alerts, or automated indexing recommendations across massive multi-database topologies.
• Deep professional mastery of MySQL/InnoDB core behaviors—specifically buffer pool configuration, transaction isolation levels, lock mechanics, and Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC).
• Demonstrated expertise in system-level database performance profiling, query rewrites, and the engineering of advanced indexing strategies for large-scale applications.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of translating complex database concepts for software engineering teams and prioritizing work based on cross-product impact.

BONUS POINT IF YOU HAVE

Broad Database Proficiency: Experience managing and optimizing non-MySQL environments, specifically PostgreSQL, MongoDB (Atlas), and/or Google BigQuery. Includes designing schemas, optimizing query performance, and implementing advanced indexing or partition strategies.
Modern Tooling & Observability: Strong interest in leveraging GenAI/LLM-assisted analysis (e.g., automated diagnostics) to optimize DBA workflows, alongside familiarity with Datadog for real-time anomaly detection and dashboard creation.
Domain Expertise: Prior exposure to healthcare data standards or integration pipelines, such as those involving EHR systems like Epic or Cerner.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

• Intellectual and emotional satisfaction of solving tough operational problems in healthcare while improving patient access and saving lives!
• Competitive compensation package that includes base salary, target bonus, and stock options
• 401(k) Match
• Comprehensive healthcare benefits
• Generous Paid Time Off and Parental Leave
• Monthly reimbursement for Skill Building 
• Monthly reimbursement for Wellness, Transportation, and/or Home Office
• Education Reimbursement for select courses/programs